


Digital Adventures Online

by DigiConjurer



Category: Digimon - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-27 02:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6266131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigiConjurer/pseuds/DigiConjurer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Welcome to Digital Adventures Online. Prepare to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Logging In

Elena dashed across the pavement.

She had shoved the game into the back pocket of her dark blue sundress, occasionally making sure it hadn't fallen out. In retrospect, putting it in her vest was probably a much better idea. At the very least, it slightly complimented her mess of purplish brown hair and amber eyes. A pair of kris hung by her waist, looking like a cross between a pie cutter and a dagger.

All around her, were the tall skyscrapers that towered in the sky. Surrounding those large titans of stone and metal, were the sidewalks and roads required for a city. Among those two areas, large crowds of people gathered. Strangely, the coming of the night sky did little to faze them from actually taking their gazes off of their magical little devices.

"Just my luck." Elena thought, her body beginning to stutter a little bit as data particles seemed to be cast off of her. She always hated this part of the day, preferring to spend it inside. But, sometimes one needs to face their fears and take a step into the wild side of life. In this case, that meant heading out into the world to get her new game before night fell onto the city. A building then came into view, beckoning her in. Elena almost immediately accepted, her dash turning into a whole blown run as she entered.

Inside it was your typical lobby affair, white walls and white tile floors with a bunch of barf green sofas scattered about. The corsair continued to walk on by, heading straight towards the elevator. She pushed the button labelled "three" and rolled her amber eyes.

It had been alright day at school, even with the annoyance of dealing with the teasing. Even then, the hardest thing about it wasn't the work. It was interacting with others, a skill that all the other people at her school seemed to be more skilled at than her. After a few minutes of just standing there and listening to the dull elevator music, the elevator stopped and the corsair exited into the hallway. Amid the light shadows brought forth by the windows, a creature stood at the far end of the area. It looked like a black cat, but the shadows weren't making identifying the creature an easy task.

"Liora, is that you?" Elena whispered, running towards the animal. The creature just sat there, waiting for the girl to come over. Just as she reached the feline, it faded away. "Just my eyes playing tricks on me."

The way back to to the apartment passed in silence and slight disappointment. At the very least, it was the first person in quite a while to actually give a care about her.

Nonetheless, Elena opened the door and headed in. Inside, a sparsely furnished apartment filled with plushies and the usual furniture awaited her. The only thing of note, appeared to be a shield-like crest displaying a sword and a wand. Below it, was a simple title.

Drogaciji Academia

This, was the only connection the corsair held to her old home. In a way, it was all she needed. Elena sat herself down at the desk, pulling the game out as she booted up her laptop. She then slid the disk in, the world beginning to swirl around...

.

Elena opened her eyes.

Gone was her apartment, having been replaced with barren plains blanketed by a reddish orange sky.

Beside her, the deceased body of a high school student laid. While there appeared to be no visible wounds, bits of banana covered the head.

"Just ignore the very unimportant dead body."

Elena's gaze snapped away from the dead body, finding herself looking at an orange dino wearing a pair of golden pants.

"Welcome to Digital Adventures Online." the creature announced, pulling a banana out. "I am Swaggy McSwaggypants. Now, what is your name?"

Elena only stood there, debating whether or not to answer.

"Uh..." she started, taking a deep breath. "Elena Yuliana."

As Elena said that, Swaggy pulled out a clipboard and gave it a quick glance. When the dino finally did return his gaze to the corsair, a look of fear and sadness had formed on his face.

"Go, while she still doesn't know you're here."

Elena then walked away, pushing what little trust she had in the inhabitants of this place to the back of her mind. Her gaze focused on the far end of the area. To the east, appeared to be a small cave jutting out of the from the wall of a canyon.

Swaggy McSwaggypants quickly became just a little speck on the horizon, possibly bothering some other unlucky soul. Not that Elena really cared about that for the minute. At the moment, she just wanted to explore the cave. After that, Elena wasn't too sure. The walk to the cave slowly came into view, indifferent to whoever decided to enter it.

Inside, darkness seemed to emanate from within the quite plain brown stone walls and floor.

"That's it?" Elena thought and took a step. Almost instantly, the floor crumbled into dust, dropping her into a slightly smaller chamber. Unlike the chamber above it, the walls had been painted silver with the floor not getting the same treatment. After, her gaze focused on a solitary brown pillar jutting out from the ground. Sitting on said pillar, was a large sea green egg.

"Release me..."

Elena looked all around, unable to find the source of the voice. Her gaze quickly returned to the egg, which seemed to be the only possible source of the disturbance. She took a step closer to it, placing her left hand on it. The egg was then engulfed with purplish black light, forcing the corsair back a few steps. When the light finally disappeared, a sea green feathered scorpion now sat on pillar.

"Uh..." Elena started, only to stop. "Hi?"

"HI!THANKYOU!WHAT'SYOURNAME?" a stream of words flooded out of the bug's mouth, only for the digimon to jump into her arms. As such, said creature currently found a kris in her face. "Sorry about that, let's try that again."

Elena stared blankly at her new friend, strapping the dagger back onto her dress.

"Elena." the corsair answered, only for the scorpion to crawl up onto her head. "

"Carinamon." the creature explained, jumping off of Elena's head.

_Scanning..._

**Carinamon**

**Rookie, Data**

**Special Moves: Carina Sting, Poison Claw**

**.**

**Elena: So, we're partners now?**

**Carinamon: Yep!**

**Elena: Don't I get any kind of fanfare or acknowledgement of this being special?  
**

**?: Other than that one little thing and Elena being a mistake, no.**

_Scan Complete._

Elena and Carinamon turned around, suddenly finding themselves back outside the cave. Before a brief second, they could make out a translucent figure, only for it to disappear before either of them could get a good look at it. In the time they were in the cave, the sky had gone from bright blue to a slightly darker purple.

"Who was that?" Carinamon inquired, only to get no response from her human. The scorpion then turned around, finding a large purple and black halsemon with a broken pocketwatch around it's neck. It had a rubbery look to it, with a stream of multicolored feathers sprouting from it's back. Finishing off the look, was a long black tail with a metal trident piece. "What happened to you?"

Laughter then filled the area, it's source unknown.

* * *

Notes:

If you enjoyed, please a comment and/or kudos.

.

Next Time: A little meddling couldn't hurt, could it?


	2. Canyon Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, a jester, a bird and a gambler walk into a canyon...

I don't own digimon.

* * *

 

Carinamon stared at the beast.

"What happened to you?" the scorpion whispered and jumped up, only to cling onto the left canyon wall.

_Scanning..._

**Arresternostmon**

**Champion, Virus**

**Special Moves: Unknown**

**.**

**?: Elena is a mistake, just like Carinamon.**

**Elena: Rawr.**

**?: Oh shut up. It's not Jestery's fault Rantha and Hilda were complete morons.**

**Elena: Growl.**

_Scan complete._

"Who was that?" the rookie digimon accused, only to get a mouthful of thick smoke. A large figure now towered over them, seeming possibly ready to kill the duo. They were dressed some sort of orange and blue jester costume with a matching court jester hat. White costume paint covered all their exposed skin, slightly contrasting with the mess of barely visible pink and purple hair under said hat.

"So, Elena thought she could just sneak in without Jestery noticing?" the person announced, slamming a cream pie into Elena's face. "Oh well. Jestery always wanted to ride a pony!"

The jester then sat herself down on Elena, only to be catapulted up into the air. She then teleported mid-fling, not giving a care at all about Elena or Carinamon's fate.

"So long how are you stuck like this?" the scorpion asked and faced her partner.

"Rawr growl." Elena answered, staring up towards the scorpion.

"I just need to get you some sort of constant light and you'll be fine?"

"Ra."

"Sounds good."

Carinamon jumped down from the canyon wall and pinched onto Elena's tail, grabbing hold somehow. She then took her first cautious steps forward, only for a pair of footsteps to quickly catch-up to the duo.

"Crap." the scorpion whispered and watched as a man and some jackal gangster approached, choosing to carefully drop Elena's tail.

The girl was dressed in a white silky lace blouse with matching stockings and suspenders. Over that, was a two piece black suit with a skirt instead of trousers. Silk fingerless gloves covered her hands and a pair of scarlet pumps covered her feet. Her skin was quite pale, possibly enhanced by make-up. Two cold ruby red eyes stared towards them and her ink black hair was tied into a bun. Finishing off her look, were long red fake nails on each hand.

Standing beside her, was a tall humanoid dressed in a pin-stripe suit with a jackal head. In his hands, was a tommy gun with seemingly unlimited ammo. Unlike the girl, he probably seemed slightly likely to help. Though, one couldn't quite be too sure.

"Get out of the way or else." the girl announced and placed her hands on Elena's back. Of course, the bird creature had none of it, choosing to wrap her tail around the gambler's legs and hoisted her up.

"Rawr growl snarl gro hiss." Elena whispered and gave the captive a quick glance.

"You will help or you will die by daybreak." Carinamon explained and the girl laughed. "The choice is yours."

"I am Alice Zwingli, " the girl answered as she struggled against her bonds. "Chance is my game!"

Elena only rolled her eyes and did her best laugh. Even if it seemed more like a growl than anything else.

"Rawr huff snarl."

"Astamon, do something!" Alice responded, only for her partner to just stand there. "Kick the stupid bird!"

_Scanning..._

**Astamon**

**Ultimate, Virus**

**Special Moves: Hellfire and Maverick**

**.**

**Astamon: Are you sure about this, Miss Su-**

**Alice: Just do it.**

**Astamon: As you wish, Miss Alice.**

_Scan complete._

"I still don't see how this helps us." Astamon mumbled to himself and stepped towards Elena. "I'm sorry, Madame and something or other."

**Maverick!**

Astamon jumped up into the air and extended his right foot out, heading right for both girls. And yet, it was Elena who shouldered the blow.

He took a deep breath and sighed. After, Carinamon grabbed onto Elena's left leg and continued to pull both humans. For having to pull the large bird, they were actually making quite a bit of progress through the canyon. Thou. Strangely, their new found friends had decided to stay silent instead of actually helping. Even if they had, the scorpion doubted either of them would really be helpful.

"Is that seriously all you're going to do?" Carinamon shouted, only for both Alice and Astamon to ignore her.

"Yep." Alice answered, only to come dangerously close to the ground. "Would you please not do that again?"

"Hiss growl snarl roar."

"Then help me pull her along she asks."

Alice then sighed, attempting to do her best 'I-won't-help' look.

"A beautiful girl like me wouldn't be any use to either of you."

Alice found her entire body brought down mere inches to the ground. All she got from her captor was a growl.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

Somehow, the gambler managed to reach her guns. She then pulled the trigger, unleashing a large amount of bullets towards Elena. While she did manage to miss on a majority of the shots, the resulting muzzle flash was enough to revert Elena back to her human form.

"Uh... Good thinking?" she whispered and pulled her kris out.

Alice stared at the now human chosen, possibly confused by what she had just witnessed. At the same time, the gambler realized that she had been tricked to an extent. Not that it was what this person intended, but it just seemed that way in her mind.

"Have your fucking way." she whispered, but complied nonetheless.

"Sure thing, Miss..." Astamon started, only for Elena to clear her throat.

"Uh... Elena." Elena quickly answered and the jackal bowed.

"I would be happy to help you, Miss Elena."

Alice only glared, even less happy with the situation she and Astamon currently found themselves in.

"Um... thanks?" the corsair added, staring towards her 'savior'. As they stared at each other, the two both felt a strange sense of deja vu.

The end of the canyon finally came into view. To both duos of chosen, it meant the end of the line of their partnership along with a nice long rest. Not that far away, a large torch burned. Around it, a pair of sleeping bags.

"Finally!" everyone simultaneously announced, dashing over to the 'safety area'. Along with the sleeping bags, a pair of messenger bags had been left by Jestery for them to use.

"Doesn't make up for earlier." Elena thought and unrolled the sleeping bag. Her gaze then focused on Alice, who was doing the same thing. "Partners for now?"

Alice rolled her eyes.

"Partners." she answered with reluctant disdain. While she had been humiliated by the corsair, the gambler could find some use to her. But when the time came, she would have her way...

.

Joey sighed.

For as much as he enjoyed his 'previous' foster home, it was time to move on. Beside him, a purple pig flapped it's ear wings while holding an empty tea cup.

"Will there be tea at least?" his partner inquired, only for the boy to sigh.

"I have no clue." Joey answered, grabbing a ratty yellow backpack off the table. After, he quickly shoved a couple folders inside and zipped it up. "We'll just have to go and find out."

He popped the game case open, inserting the disk into a computer that probably couldn't handle it. After grabbing his staff, he turned the ancient relic on...

Only for the duo to get sucked in.

* * *

Next Time: Shadows are quite interesting things, aren't they?


	3. Infusion Time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our duo becomes a trinity.

I don't own digimon.

* * *

Elena opened her eyes and checked her watch. It was 6:00 AM yet, it looked still dark for morning time. It probably wasn't helped at all by the gun Alice currently had pointed to her head.

"New rule. No pointing of guns at people as they're waking up." Elena explained as the gun was inched closer towards her head.

"Why not?" Alice answered and fired her gun off. For having a loaded firearm so close to an actual person, the bullet seemingly missed the target.

"I don't know, maybe because you're out a story if Elena dies at the moment." Carinamon added as Astamon got up. Unlike the other three, his gaze seemed less focused on the group and more on the open area around them.

"Miss Alice, an intruder approaches." The jackal mask gangster explained as a boy and some purple patamon rip-off approached the group. The boy appeared to be dressed in a grey t-shirt decorated with some red lightning bolts that sort of went with a pair of grey and green plaid shorts. A set of green eyes stared towards them, contrasting with the buzz cut done to his blonde hair.

"Hello, random strangers!" The boy greeted as his patamon rip-off gave them a slight nod.

"Uh... Hi?" Elena greeted as the boy just stood there, possibly examining the corsair. After a few minutes of doing that, he returned his gaze

"So, you're guys are the new heroes, huh?" a voice announced as a hail of gunfire rained down on them. "I was expecting something more... interesting. Oh well, it wouldn't have helped anyhow at the moment."

.

He opened his eyes.

All three of them were still by their campfire, mystically still alive somehow.

"Oh, like, hi, nya!" the creature announced as he looked up, finding a large pink creature standing over him."What's your name?"

"Joey." he whispered and made a glance down at himself. Judging from his wounds, he had been shot a couple of times along with getting kicked a couple times. He looked over at his patamon lookalike, who was laying right next to him.

"You still got the data?" the rip-off only nodded, only for their savior to just snatch the notes away. After a second look at the creature, it turned out to be a pink catgirl dressed in a grey robe and cloak.

"Interesting, very interesting, nya." the catgirl then pulled a pen out, writing some stuff down. "Good job."

"If I did a good job, why are you marking it up?" he attempted to get up, only for their savior to grab onto him and pushed him down.

"I'm just giving you additional insider information." As she said that, Elena and Carinamon awoke. "Hopefully, you're not your father's son."

"My father?" Joey whispered as the cat creature thing released her grip on him and walked over Elena. Strangely, it seemed more like it was studying the corsair than anything else.

"Can you please stop?" Elena asked, only for 'pinky' to sigh.

"Maybe." 'pinky' answered and handed the notes back to Joey. She then walked away, disappearing in a cloud of black dust.

"Okay then." Elena remarked as Joey's gaze focused on her. "Sorry about this."

"It's alright." Joey mumbled, looking his notes over. After making sure everything was in order, he walked away from the campfire. It was a close call, for him and his purple patamon. Their research had been compromised, yet appeared to be improved upon.

"I'm guessing my opinion doesn't matter at this point." the digimon remarked as the two headed off. Elena attempted to get up, only for Carinamon to rush over to her. She looked down at her watch. It was a quarter to eight. Judging from the sunset that seemed to engulf the surrounding desert, it was probably pm. As she sat up, a loud bang erupted.

"What should I do?" Joey thought, his gaze going back and forth between his notes and Elena. "I can't endanger my research anymore than I have. But, she might be a big help in the long run."

He pulled a short pole out of his pocket and gave it a slight flick, watching it turn into a staff.

"Let's go, Tsukaimon." the boy decided, unrolling his notes.

"You promised me tea and biscuits!" the digimon accused as the analyzer screen appeared.

_Scanning..._

**Tsukaimon**

**Rookie, Virus**

**Special Moves: Dark Bubble, Purple Haze  
**

**.**

**Joey: You still haven't done anything about it.**

**Tsukaimon: But you lied!**

**Joey: That's in the past, my friend.**

_Scan complete._

Elena only sighed. With the help of Carinamon, she managed to get herself up on two feet.

"What do you need?" Joey remarked as Elena took a deep breath. Joey took a step back, his gaze focused on her arm. "Care to explain?"

After a quick explanation from the hybrid and her scorpion, Joey handed the papers over. While he still didn't understand what the fuck was even going on, he willing to help the group out.

"Here we go." Carinamon shouted and pulled one of the sheets out. Unlike the other sheets, which were mostly text, this one was a diagram of some sort of magical. "This is what we need to get our edge!"

For the moment, the three humans ignored the digimon. Mostly since they were attempting the art of not dying via gunshot wound.

"Uh... Show yourself!" Elena announced as an arrow and some weird cyanish white orbs headed towards them. "I guess that answers my question."

Carinamon placed the paper on the ground, beginning to draw some sort of circle in the sand. Arrows and bullets began to rain down upon them, getting extremely close to their vital parts.

"There we go." the digimon explained, making a quick glance behind her. For some reason, Alice and Astamon were heading towards them. "What do you want now?"

"Well, that worked." Alice remarked as she headed towards them. As they did that, Astamon shot at their attacker. "So, what's the plan?"

"We used this magical circle I created to do something magical." Carinamon explained as Alice gave the circle a quick glance. After doing that, Joey's gaze focused upon her.

"Who the heck are you?" Joey remarked as the trio took a step towards the circle.

"Alice Zwingli, professional gambler." Alice whispered as she cracked a cocky smile.

"Joey Elliot, amateur scientist."

The three then took a small step forward, slamming their feet onto the circle.

**Elena infusion digivolve too...** **Arresternostmon** **!**

**Alice infusion digivolve too... NekoGamblermon!**

**Joey infusion digivolve too... ShadowAngemon!**

_Scanning..._

**Arresternostmon**

**Infusion, Virus**

**Special Moves: Gale Wing, Memory Spirits**

**.**

**Elena: Hey Jestery!**

**Jestery: Jestery tired...**

**Elena: Mistake this!**

**Jestery: Elena try too hard, still mistake.**

**Elena: Whatever, Jess.**

**Jestery: Don't even try.**

_Scanning..._

**NekoGamblermon**

**Infusion, Data**

**Special Moves: Lucky Shot, Card of Chance**

**.**

**Jestery: Yay! Kitty's back!**

**Alice: Seeriooussly?**

**Jestery: Alice not interrupt Jestery's fantasy.**

**Astamon: You do look really cute, Miss Alice.**

**Alice: Just shut up, Astamon.**

_Scanning..._

**ShadowAngemon**

**Infusion, Despair**

**Special Moves: Shadow Knuckle, Shadow Blaze**

**.**

**Joey: Despair, what's the heck is that?**

**?: Despair, is a type of digimon usually associated with emotions, not just despair.**

**Joey: you remind me of someone...**

**?: It's the hat, isn't it? But no matter, I believe you should consider it to meet my partner in crime and I.**

**Joey: Then who are you people then?**

**TripleQuestionmarks: Evil Takeru "TK" Takaishi and Hikari Yagami at your service...**

_Scan Complete._

* * *

 

Next Time: The last fight of Evil TK for now...


	4. Legacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things don't make sense for now.

I don't own digimon.

* * *

Elena sighed.

She didn't really get who these two people were trying to be. Maybe they were just pretending to be those characters. Not that it really mattered to her at all. They were their current opponents and they would need to battle them. At least now, she had proper control in this form.

Her gaze then focused upon Alice.

In the place of the gambler, a white catgirl dressed in a black trenchcoat now stood. Under said trenchcoat, was a plain t-shirt and a matching pair of pants. A mask that looked like her usual face hung on the back of her head. It was a pretty spotless replica, the only flaws within it being the slightly exaggerated visuals and a small crack just below the mouth portion. Her guns hung by her thighs, with a deck of cards hanging beside the left pistol.

Alice took a deep breath. While it wasn't the preferred form she would have chosen for herself, it would work for the time being. She also wouldn't mind a certain third-person speaking jester releasing her 'loving' grip off of her.

"Don't you just feel the love?" Jestery announced as Alice went for her gun. Already, the benevolent god was quickly getting upon her nerves. Not that she could really kill her, having already tried that the day before with no success.

"Get off." Alice answered and Jestery ended her hug. Alice probably needed a second hug, judging from her still grumpy mood. So, Jestery hugged her again and Alice responded with her usual tactic: pointing a gun in the aggressor's face. This probably won't at all backfire on her in the near future, whatsoever.

"What are you afraid of, Alice?" Evil TK responded, only to have Alice swing both of her guns towards his face. "We're all friends around here."

"Your name is Evil TK. I say it's quite the contrary of that." the gambler whispered, only to get a mumble from her opponent. "Hey! Speak up!"

While those two bickered, Joey looked himself over. Instead of the typical overdressed angel one would have expect for his name, the boy was still dressed in his original outfit. However, a cloud of darkness had now engulfed his body, giving the appearance of the overdressed angel.

"Come on, Alice and TK! Be friends!" Jestery announced as she casually played on a 3DS for some reason.

"Uh... go away." Elena answered as she looked up. Floating above them, was a weird cross between SkullGreymon and a Myotismon. How that would exactly work is beyond me. "We have a fight at the moment."

"Jestery is still cuddling kitty at the moment." Jestery announced and Elena held her left claw to her forehead. "Kitty is currently way too moody for her own well-being."

Eventually, Jestery did finally let go of Alice and mumbled something about it counting as two hugs at once for some reason.

"Took you people long enough." Hikari announced, aiming her sniper rifle towards Elena. "I've been lusting for some action for quite a while now."

"Lusting?" Evil TK answered, turning to look at his partner. "I realize we both haven't had much in the way of action, but that seems like a weird word to describe it."

"We're finally ready!" Joey announced, waiting for their two opponents to answer.

"Oh, yes." digimon #1 answered, clearing his throat. "I'm MaloMyotismon."

_Scanning..._

**MaloMyotismon**

**Super Ultimate, Virus**

**Special Moves: Mental Illusion, Screaming Darkness, Crimson Mist**

**.**

**MaloMyotismon: You might know me from classics such as Digimon Adventure 02 and that one episode of Digimon Fusion.**

**The author: You mean Digimon Xros Wars.**

**MaloMyotismon: It's the same thing.  
**

**The author: They technically aren't.**

**MaloMyotismon: What's the difference?**

**The author: Too many to list off right now. I'm sort of afraid to watch the dub, if it ever gets finished.**

_Scan Complete._

"Okay then." Alice responded, her gaze focusing on a second digimon.

It's appearance was similar to that of an angewomon, but had a yellow fox tail and matching fox ears. A renamon gauntlet covered the normally gloved hand and she wasn't wearing her helmet, revealing the usual long blonde hair most angewomon have. The weird gunk of plaster normally covering her foot had been replaced with a yellow fox foot. Finally, the normally angelic white dress seemed to have a faded yellow tint to it.

The digimon then launched a mixed barrage of arrows and fireballs towards them, seemingly waiting for them to dodge and/or counter-attack.

**Shadow Blaze!**

Part of the black cloud condensed around Joey's hand, only for a fireball to shoot out.

**Gale Wing!**

Two c-shaped projectiles shot out of Elena's wings, almost immediately joining with the fireball.

**Lucky Shot!**

Alice shot her left gun off, only to get nothing but smoke. As such, the gambler repeated said action and managed to fire her gun off. A few seconds later, all three attacks collided into one super attack that barely did any damage to either of their opponent's digimon.

"Why couldn't it just be tea and crumpets?!" Tsukaimon added as Carinamon pinched his left wing.

"Is that all you ever talk about?" The feathered scorpion accused and the purple winged pig shook his head.

"Some chips would be nice. Maybe some bangers and mash instead." Carinamon stared into the pig's face, attempting to decipher the digimon's latest statement. It was probably better than the food her 'creator' fed her each day. She was pretty certain it was mostly just rat poison and some other nasty things, possibly the venom of her turtle cellmate. But, that was in the past.

The scorpion's gaze then focused on Alice, who was cycling her gun barrel in an attempt to improve her accuracy. There was probably only one bullet in the six-round barrel, but that didn't stop the catgirl. It was at that moment, MaloMyotismon finally decided to join the battle.

**Crimson Mist!**

A red mist headed towards them, only for Alice to pull her deck of cards out.

**Card of Chance!**

She flipped the top card off, revealing the king of diamonds. Instead of the usual king on the card, there was the picture of a figure dressed in a rainbow-striped cloak.

"What the heck?" Both Elena and Joey shouted as Alice fell to the ground.

"Oh fuck, fuck, fuck." TK added as Hikari glanced towards him. Their gazes focused on Alice, who was strangely convulsing on the ground. She immediately returned to her human form, only for a loud bone-cracking pop to come forth from the German girl. Her body was engulfed with white light as everyone just stood there. When the light disappeared, a catgirl with purple fur and her mask from before. But, the mask now appeared to be covered entirely with cracks and ready to shatter. Catgirl was probably the wrong word to describe her now. Actually, the closest thing to describing her was possibly a large cat behemoth thing.

"Crud." TK responded and gave MaloMyotismon a slight nod. The ultimate responded with another nod and ran towards our heroes.

**Mental Illusion!**

'Alice' froze, returning to a human-like state for the moment.

Elena then reverted back, pulling her cell phone out.

"Uh... what are you doing?" Joey accused and watched Elena talk into the device.

"Uh... calling a friend of mine." Elena explained as Joey's gaze turned towards TK.

"How did you do that, Mr. Takaishi?" The scientist asked and reverted back to his human state.

TK only giggled, cracking a sly smile.

"You're a digimon fan, aren't you?" TK answered, taking his fisherman's cap off. "Also, just call me TK."

"Yes, Mr TK." Joey answered as Tsukaimon flew over to his master while MaloMyotismon reverted back to Patamon. "A very big fan."

"It's not what you expected, is it?"

Joey only nodded as Hikari gave TK a cautionary glance.

"I expected something more a whole lot more peaceful." Hikari only sighed, whispering something into TK's ear. "But, why?"

"The digital world is like a person. Every person has a different idea what they want it to be. It changes to reflect what that person wants."

Joey stared blankly, confused by what the boy was even talking about.

"If that was the case, why is this place so messed up?"

TK only sighed, his smile disappearing.

"If only it were that simple." TK took a deep breath, taking a quick glance behind him. He began to shake, pulling his own gun out. "It is coming for us, taking your friends and go!"

The former prince then placed something in the Joey's hands as Hikari made a confused glance towards him.

"What are you talking about?"

"All you need to know is this. The jester is not your enemy. Neither are the Royal Digi and the Infectors. No, there's a much greater threat to worry about." As he said that, a bus rolled up. "But, no matter what, don't let that change the path you choose to take."

A bus then landed right beside TK and Hikari, calling for them to come towards it.

Joey and Tsukaimon then ran towards the bus. Astamon followed right behind, pulling a stunned Alice behind him. Elena and Carinamon brought up the rear, making sure nothing had decided to follow them.

Inside, the interior looked to be that of a school bus, probably used for the obvious reason. An old man, probably in his thousands, sat in the front seat. He was dressed simply, just a white toga and some sandals. For some reason, his water bottle was shaking rapidly, possibly ready to explode on them.

"Hi Bob." Elena greeted as she and Carinamon took a seat behind the driver.

"Good to see you, Elena." Bob answered as Tsukaimon pulled Alice over to a seat in the middle area. "Where to?"

"Drogaciji Academy." Elena explained and Bob nodded. The bus headed off, as the 'former rulers' of the digital world watched on.

At the moment, the duo and their digimon were doing battle with two heavily armored angels. However, it seemed the two angels had the upper hand on them. They always did in these sorts of battles. That was how it was supposed to be in this world. Good wins, evil loses. Any slight change to this "balance", would be considered wrong and must be set 'right'. Or maybe it was just case of very bad luck.

TK gritted his teeth, taking a deep breath. This was the end for him, but not for all of them. They tiptoed towards a large dead tree, taking shelter inside.

"Hikari, go." He whispered, only for her and kitsune angewomon thing to just stand there.

"If you're going to die, let's do this together." She whispered, attempting to make TK see her way. "I can't just let you have the fun."

"No." TK sighed, handing his partner in crime something. "Now is your chance to be the hero. Go!"

Hikari ran out of the tree, heading north. Her partner followed behind, still nameless. As those two did that, TK and Patamon headed back to their opponents. TK cracked a smile, not even getting a response from either digimon.

"I guess the cat was right. We're all butterflies in a never-ending cycle. But, eventually we'll have to deal with the repercussions of past actions." He pointed his gun towards the digimon to his left and fired. The bullet slammed into the creature's helmet, only for a lance to stab right through his heart. The other digimon copied the actions of the first, slamming his spear into Patamon.

With the deed now done, the two teleported away.

.

Polly Gostelow opens her eyes.

Currently, she finds herself in her ordinary room. It consisted of four white walls and a matching carpet. Martial art posters were scattered about the walls, making the lone poster of a riceball kitty and a green jellybean frog seem out of place yet meaningful. Other than that, a desk sat under a window with an overturned bookcase with a bunch of fist-shaped bloodstains upon it. She couldn't quite remember why she had done it or the purpose of it, but something about it seemed familiar. The only other piece of furniture appeared to be a plain set of drawers.

"Why hello there."

Our current 'protagonist' then makes a quick glance towards the left side of her bed. Currently, a demonic satyr thing was standing by said bed with something on his mind.

"I have the offer of the lifetime for you." the monster explained. "Are you willing to hear me out on this?"

"Can't it just wait? I'm not even dressed yet." Polly whispered and made a quick glance away from the creature.

The creature sighed, only to shake his head.

"In that case, I'll just cut right to the chase. Want to become a harem girl?"

"No thanks." Polly whispered and kicked the covers away, grabbing hold of this mystery monster. What followed, was the monster getting flung out her window. All without hitting the desk.

"Telemarketers these days." she whispered and closed her eyes. "Why does he seem so familiar..."

* * *

 

Next Time: Truly a tempting offer, is it not?


	5. Polly's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do it for the harem!

I don't own digimon.

* * *

The dawn's bright glow quickly approached upon the home of the Gostelow family.

For our current protagonist, she had just finished dealing with one of those extremely annoying telemarketers. Strangely, this one had decided invasion of privacy was a totally legitimate thing to do someone just awoken from their slumber.

Nonetheless, she got up and dressed herself in her usual outfit. Which consisted of a black vest top and a loose cargo pants, held up by a black belt. To go with her look, were a pair of fingerless gloves and a pair of trainer shoes. At the very least, it went well with her dazzling blue eyes and her black pixie cut.

"Hello, whore. Shall we try this again?"

She then turned around, finding the figure from before sitting at her desk. He had the chest of a human, the lower half of a goat and the upper chest of a dragon. A unicorn horn was embedded in his white hair, just above the human right half of his face. The other half, appeared to be all dragon. A single short straight horn hung on both sides of head. White shoulder pads held by red thread covered his knees. Strangely, her gaze seemed most focused on the white voids that one could call 'eyes'.

"Why are you back here again?!" she screamed and took a step toward towards her opponent.

"Because I need your help, you useless slut."

Polly slammed her fist into the beast's throat and knocked it into the desk. The demonic satyr didn't even flinch and just walked back over to his original position.

**Terra Archens (Blazing Earth)!  
**

A beam of lava then shot out of the hands of the creature, only for the monk to duck and fling him into the wall.

"You can call me Aegiochusmon." The creature announced, only for Polly to grab hold. "I am your Harem Mage."

Before he could explain himself, Polly flung the digimon out her window for a second time.

"Good riddance." Polly thought and made her way towards the door.

**Pylóna tou Ádi (Pillar of Hades)!**

A large ornate pillar sprouted up from the earth, only for Aegiochusmon to casually step through the now broken window frame.

"My, my, my. What have they done to you." the harem mage announced, only to grab hold of Polly.

"Let go of me, you big creep!" Polly shouted as she attempted to break free from her captor's grip.

"Why should I? I've gone through all of this trouble of tracking you down and I can't just let you get away that easily."

Aegiochusmon then laughed, only for the monk's door to open up and reveal Polly's mom.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the women announced and Aegiochusmon let go of Polly and escaped through the way he came in.

"Mom?" Polly inquired, only for Mom to pull her out of the room. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want you to be anywhere near him!" Polly's Mom announced and walked downstairs."He's trouble and nothing else."

The monk only stood there, processing what had just happened. As much as she wanted to push this all to the back of her mind, something about the intruder stuck with her. Maybe it was the sense of deja vu that the two had somehow met before. Or it could be that sneaking feeling of her destiny suddenly changing.

But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't put her finger on the answer. Reluctantly, the monk made her way down the stairs and headed outside.

Outside, Aegiochusmon had sat himself down on a nice stone bench.

"So, you finally decided to take me up on my offer, bimbo?" Aegiochusmon greeted, only for Polly to throw him into a dumpster. "No matter."

He pulled a gold pocketwatch out and gave it a quick glance. Polly was already late to begin with, making her resistance just another pain for the harem mage to deal with at the moment.

"Now, now. You need to stop this, my Akira."

Polly walked up to 'her partner' and punched him in the face. Aegiochusmon only laughed as a bright flash of light blinded her vision. Fractured images flashed by, showing bits and pieces of events that seemed familiar yet so distant.

"Do you get it now, bimbo?"

Polly only stared at the harem mage.

"This is something kind of prank, right? Just some elaborate joke my friends thought would be funny to pull on m-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Aegiochusmon slapped her.

"A joke?" he shouted, balling both of his hands up. "Do you think I went through all of this trouble for just one little measly practical joke?!"

The harem mage then grabbed hold of her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Energy surged into the monk, only for Aegiochusmon to release his grip off of her. But instead of falling to the ground, she just floated there as a white card shot out of her body and into the free hands of her 'master'. Like a Polaroid almost, a picture of Polly then formed on the card. Afterwards, Polly fell to the ground but quickly got back up.

"What did you just do to me?!" Polly shouted and charged towards Aegiochusmon once more, only for him to sidestep out of the way.

"I made a pactio with you." Aegiochusmon answered, only for Polly to throw him into a wall. "That way, we can restore what they took from you."

Polly gave him a quick glance, only to walk away. She had enough of the 'crap' the harem mage had decided to shove down her throat.

"Just go away, will you?"

Aegiochusmon only sighed and cautiously followed behind.

Currently, the city was swarming with people in line to get a copy of Digital Adventures Online from their local game stores.

One would have expected to see less of a crowd, mostly due to the recent rumors of the disappearance of the beta testers. But, they all probably thought that was just some rumor or story cocked up by marketing and/or the press to hype the game. That, or they were looking for Mage Girls: VS Ultra. Not that either of them would have really known, considering the two didn't really care for this sort of thing.

"Can you please stop following me?"

Aegiochusmon only laughed.

"Why would I want to do that?" he explained, only for Polly to stare at him. "I now have you."

He was then slapped for that remark.

"No." Polly answered and continued on her way. "Just leave me alone!"

Aegiochusmon didn't answer, giving his pocketwatch another quick glance.

After that annoyance, the monk continued on her way. Occasionally, the monk would make a quick glance behind her, making sure she wasn't being followed.

Polly passed through an alley, making a quick stop for some reason. Painted on the left wall, was a mural of a black cat with some cyan text painted under it.

Life is like chasing a black cat. At first, the cat will just outrun you. But as you make friends and grow along your journey, you will eventually catch up with it.

"Interesting, isn't it? You can't find this at all in either Mahora or the Digital World."

Polly turned around, finding Aegiochusmon standing before her once again.

"Now what?" Polly shouted and Aegiochusmon laughed.

"We need to get going." Aegiochusmon answered and Polly stared blankly at him. The harem mage immediately took advantage of her, delivering a kiss on the cheek. "Especially if we want to get away without her realizing."

Polly stared at Aegiochusmon, only for kunai to suddenly rain down.

"Hey!

Aegiochusmon leaned in for a kiss, muttering three little words under his breath. Almost on cue, the kunai rain had stopped.

"Sis mea pars!"

**Polly infusion digivolve too... Aquiosmon!**

Power then rippled through her body, forcing her onto the floor. Her skin shattered, light blue goop taking the place of it. Her legs had fused together, taking the appearance of a mermaid tail. Her clothes had disappeared, getting replaced with two seashells over her breasts. What was left of her hair, was now just slime. With her transformation now complete, Aegiochusmon made a quick glance down at her card and put it in his 'pocket'.

_Scanning..._

**Aquiosmon**

**Infusion/Champion, Virus**

**Special Moves: Aquaport, Watery Grave Punch, Seaside Throw  
**

**.**

**Aegiochusmon: Call me Fate. Fate Averruncus.**

**Polly: I'll pass, thank you very much.**

**Aegiochusmon: Suit yourself then.**

_Scan complete._

"What just happened to me?!" Polly shouted, only for Aegiochusmon to sigh.

"Help me and I'll tell you, bitch." Aegiochusmon responded and Polly slapped him with her tail.

"Hello, Polly."

Polly then turned around, finding some sort of plant anthro thing standing before the duo. It was some green-skinned girl, dressed in a pink flower-petal dress. A pair of bark boots covered her feet and a small pink flower sat in her green vine-like hair. Two dark green eyes stared towards with a creepy smile accompanying it.

"It's me, Lydia!" the anthro announced, only for Aegiochusmon to smile. As much as he hadn't planned for this, this would work nicely in his plan.

Polly rubbed her eyes, possibly to make sure what she was seeing was reality and not just some weird dream induced by Aegiochusmon.

"What happened to you?" The slime inquired and 'Lydia' laughed.

"I've been improved by the infection." Polly only gave her friend a confused glance. "Would you like to join me?"

"Not really." Polly immediately slid back over to her harem mage, just about ready to slap him. "What have you done to her?!"

"I am not at fault to this bimbo's predicament." Aegiochusmon added and took a deep breath. "For now, you're going to have to take her on."

Polly only groaned.

**Aqua Torrent!**

A torrent of water engulfed the area, yet seemed contained to just the alley. Not that any of the crowds would have really noticed it.

**Aquaport!**

**Watery Grave Punch!**

Polly then dove into the water, only reappearing to punch her opponent into the air.

**Seaside Throw!**

The monk then jumped into the air, grabbing hold of Lydia and threw her into the left wall of the alley.

"What's wrong, stupid?" Aegiochusmon asked and Polly sighed.

"Now are you going to explain what's going on?" Polly answered, only for Aegiochusmon to think it over for a couple of seconds.

"Nope!"

**Watery Grave Punch!**

Polly then slammed her fist towards her partner, only for him to grab hold of it and fling her into the opposite wall with Lydia.

"For now, let's just let sleeping dogs lie." Aegiochusmon answered and grabbed hold of her once more as a flash came over them.

**Aquaport!**

The two were then pulled into the water, only to be ejected out of a water bottle.

"Where are we?"

Currently, the duo found themselves on the bus from the previous chapter, with everyone's gazes focusing in on them.

"Uh... Welcome to the group?" someone finally answered, motioning for them to take a seat. After doing that, Drogaciji Academy quickly came into view.

Only for a 'tournament' to occur, with little consequence to the grand scheme of things. Well... Kind of.

It is here, at the very end we meet our final hero...

* * *

 

Next Time: Take a ride in this taxi cab...


	6. Nostalgic Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For there is always stragglers.

I don't own digimon.

* * *

It was funny.

Just mere hours ago, the various characters of this multiverse had been forced to fight to the 'death' within the ruins of Heck. But thanks to the sacrifice of an unknown group of individuals, the situation was easily averted and peace was returned to the tropical paradise for the temporary and eternally dead. Soon, work would begin to restore the world to its former glory.

But for Aaron Larson, it meant something else entirely.

He had dressed simply that day, deciding upon a grey t-shirt and black track pants with a pair of brown loafers. Not that you could really tell, judging from the light brown trenchcoat that covered his body. Finishing off his look was a pair of weathered cyan eyes and a short mess of blondish brown hair that sort of went with slight stubble on his chin. One would possibly think that this person was in their early to mid teens. No, our final protagonist looked to be in his mid to late twenties, somehow not broken by this brutal world.

"I guess all good things have to come to an end eventually." Aaron thought as he waved goodbye to one of the many departing trains. One by one, their leads were heading off across the digitalverse with no way to even contact them. But that was a problem with a future solution. For now, he and his partner had a bigger problem. "Are you alright, Cutemon?"

The pink rabbit beside him nodded as they stared out towards the endless void. The last of the trains were now becoming just small white blips within the 'void', a mocking tone to both of them. If he could, he would eternally chase after each one, asking the patrons what they knew. Maybe then, he would understand. Even if he could reach out to them, would they even listen? Or even care to answer his question without any question. It was these uncertainties that made his job so difficult.

"What's wrong?" Cutemon inquired as he cautiously stared back at his human. Currently, Aaron was examining a ratty black notebook that looked just about ready to fall apart.

"Nothing." Aaron whispered and made a quick glance at his partner. "I was just thinking about her."

He took a deep breath and shoved the notebook into his faded yellow backpack. It had been at 'tens of thousands of years' since he had last seen her and everyone else, making this brief interlude a welcome sight. It was almost a victory, if they had been able to stay together. Yet, duty called.

"Ooh." Cutemon added and got up onto his master's shoulder as the two made their way along the train platform. While most of the area looked empty, they couldn't possibly be the only ones who still needed to leave Heck for parts unknown.

"Need a lift?" a voice announced and Aaron turned around, finding a troll in a police uniform standing before them. Strangely, a large comb-shaped mustache sat below his nose, even through trolls can't really grow moustaches.

"Yes, we actually are." Aaron answered and the troll smiled. "We need to get to Drogaciji Academy, think you can get us there?"

The troll did a double take and smiled.

"That's the same place I'm going!" he announced, only to clear his throat. "Officer EMT, at your service."

"Aaron Larson." Aaron explained and shook EMT's hand. "Master detective."

"Cutemon." Cutemon added and reluctantly shook the troll's other hand. While he did seem quite nice, one couldn't be too sure. With the introductions now over, the trio made their way over to a large armored vehicle and entered.

Compared to the cold and uninviting exterior, the interior was quite the opposite. A bunch of nice leather seats lined the sides, actually being more comfortable than what you would find in most cars. A pair of fuzzy dice hung in front of the windscreen, which went quite well with the beaded curtain separating the living quarters from the driving area.

Officer EMT then sat down in the front passenger seat as Aaron and Cutemon sat down behind him. The troll then revved the engine up and the armored vehicle drove off the edge of Heck...

Only to begin falling to their uncertain doom. Which, was probably not the greatest one would want to face right away. Strangely, Officer EMT was totally fine with all of this and was casually humming some tune from some magical girl anime, possibly Negima?! or DokiDoki Precure. As he did that, Aaron and Cutemon were screaming for their lives.

"Give me a second." EMT shouted as he got up from his seat, pulling a rocket launcher out. While that happened, Aaron also got up and pulled a vial of purple stuff out.

"Need some help?" Aaron inquired and approached their captain. If he really wanted too, he could just do the job himself. Yet, something about the troll seemed to make him want to work together. Though, this probably be the only chance he would actually get.

"I guess."

The two made their way towards the door of the vehicle and opened it up. All around them, the gaping jaw of the void opened up, ready to pull them in and never let them go. Aaron stepped into the door frame first and smashed the vial into it.

A pair of purple hands then shot out, faintly grabbing hold of both the detective and the troll. The duo then took their first steps out, cautiously making a glance behind them as they made the next set of them. With that done, the duo made their way to the back of the vehicle as the void got closer and closer.

Nonetheless, the two got to work on the back. While neither knew what was wrong with the vehicle, they would just have to figure it out.

"Maybe we just need to jump-start the motor?" Aaron suggested and Officer EMT sighed, shooting a missile into the delicate piece of automotive technology. "Are you crazy?!"

"Yes, you're quite accurate in that observation." EMT answered as a loud roar emanated from the engine. "It has quite the benefits to make up for it, though."

The two then laughed and made their way back to the door, cautiously making sure they didn't fall off and into the abyss below.

"So off to Drogaciji Academy then?" Aaron suggested and EMT nodded as they reentered the vehicle. The two then sat themselves down into their respective seats as the vehicle headed off, saying one final goodbye to the void below them. They soared up into the air, dimensional space engulfing them in it's massive grip. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." EMT answered, turning to look at the detective. "It's about the mustache, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Cutemon reluctantly added. Officer EMT then laughed and cracked a smile.

"It was a gift from my father before I headed into service. Aaron watched as EMT reminisced. In a way, he pitied the troll. "When you're gone nearly every day of the year with very few holidays, having some part of family helps with the homesickness. So, what's your story?"

Aaron took a deep breath and pulled his notebook out.

"I lost all of my friends an eternity ago." he whispered as Cutemon walked over. "They had been kidnapped by a mysterious man after accepting some of his candy. That was also the day, I met Cutemon."

Officer EMT turned away from his cockpit, placing his left hand on Aaron's shoulder.

"I can understand."

"Do tell."

Officer EMT took a deep breath and sighed.

"My first assignment was to follow a pair of individuals, see where their adventure took them. One escaped, the other got stuck in a endless loop."

"That's a shame." Cutemon whispered and gave the troll police officer a cautious glare. "But can we talk about something else."

"Cutemon..."

The rabbit didn't answer, choosing instead to just turn away.

"Sorry about that." Aaron whispered and took a deep breath. "If there is anything that you need from us, just ask."

"Sounds good." EMT answered and returned his attention to the cockpit.

The rest of the 'flight' quickly passed, with their paths parting upon arrival at Drogaciji Academy. For Officer EMT, it meant driving right through the front door.

For Aaron, it meant waiting for a small yellow bus to arrive. There he would possibly find that man. Maybe then, he could settle this...

* * *

 

Next Time: Welcome to Drogaciji Academy! Be careful of the madhouse.


	7. Dark Ocean Vu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes finally arrive at Drogaciji Academy/

The outside of Drogaciji Academy wasn't really that special. It was a large stone building with a brick plaza leading out of it. Plants of all sorts lined the edge, not that the students ever cared about them. Even then, the students rarely went outside the academy. When they did, it was waiting at the bus stop for Bob to pick them up and take them off to parts unknown.

"So this it, huh?" Astamon remarked, pulling Alice behind him. "I was expecting something more... random, Miss Elena."

Elena cautiously laughed and turned to face the gangster.

"Are you sure?" Elena answered and headed towards the exit of the vehicle. "It's just an exterior. What matters, is the interior and the occupants of said interior."

Everyone else followed right behind, only to be met by Aaron and Cutemon outside.

"Hi!" Aaron greeted and gave the people a slight bow, with his partner following suit a couple seconds later. "I'm guessing were a little bit late to this gravy train."

Elena made a quick glance over at the detective. He looked exactly the same as he did in the previous chapter, with the only difference being the slight soot from the trip here. Aaron seemed like a nice guy in her book, but she wasn't quite sure if her teammates would hold such an easy-going opinion on the matter as she did.

With the exception of Aegiochusmon, everyone seemed quite indifferent on the matter. At the very least, it would mean one more person to help them pull Alice.

"No, he can not be part of our group." the harem mage announced and began charging some sort of magic spell.

"Why not?" Elena inquired as Aaron searched through his pockets, ready to pull something out.

"The boy is more trouble than he's worth, harpy slut." Aegiochusmon answered as a stream of lava shot out of his hands. Everyone then ducked, watching as the burning liquid flew through the air and set a nearby rose bush aflame.

"I could say the same thing about you." Aaron answered and walked over to the rose bush, dumping some regular old water on it. "At the very least, I actually try to fix my mistakes."

Aegiochusmon only growled and rolled his eyes towards the detective. Polly then made a quick glance towards her partner, confused by what just happened. But for now, it was probably not best to push the situation any further than it was at the moment.

"What am I thinking?" the monk thought and took a deep breath, a sharp pain echoing through her body for a brief second. She looked all around her body to discover the source of it, to no avail. "He's just a pervy asshole who's just making things up at this point."

"Polly!"

Polly turned around, finding the rest of the group standing at the now destroyed front door. She made her way over to them, unsure of what they really saw there. It quite clearly was the remnants of a large door, smashed into a million pieces by a large vehicle. Why somebody would just stand and admire it, just seemed silly to her.

"So can we go inside?" Polly whispered as she made her way over to Elena.

"Uh... no." Elena answered and took a deep breath. "There's still a door there."

Polly stared towards the girl, confused by what Elena was even talking about. She placed a hand upon the empty space, only to find it to be completely solid.

"What the heck?" Polly shouted and slammed her fist towards the barrier. On contact with it, her fist was knocked back along with the rest of her body. "Ow."

"What did you expect, bitch?" Aegiochusmon added and chuckled in the face of his partner's stupidity. "Just because it doesn't look solid, doesn't mean there isn't anything solid there."

Polly only growled and walked away, muttering something under her breath in the process. While the monk still hadn't solved the mystery of the solid barrier thing, she could swallow her pride for the moment.

"In all seriousness, how do we get in?" Everyone then turned towards Elena, who took a deep breath.

"We go through the side entrance." Elena answered and motioned for them to follow. The crosair then snaked around to the side of the building, pointing at a simple door within the towering white stone brick walls that made of Drogaciji Academy's exterior.

"That's it?" Carinamon added and made her way towards the door. "Why didn't you tell to come here in the first place?"

"Uh..."

Elena took a deep breath and made a quick glance down at the ground. She didn't really have a reason for dragging everyone over to look at the door. Well, other than to see if the main door still technically functioned. Which meant they couldn't barge in like they owned the place and demand treatment for Alice. Even then, that would be wrong and highly disruptive to the bustling learning environment.

"I don't really have an answer, to tell you the truth." she answered, watching as Astamon pulled Alice over to the rest of the group. "I take that back. If one goes through the front door, you get 'trapped' in there."

"Trapped?" Aaron inquired and pulled his notebook out. "Care to elaborate?"

Elena took another deep breath. While she really shouldn't giving any secrets away, these were her friends after all.

"Uh... Basically, the door is used as a recruitment trap." she finally whispered as Aaron scribbled it down, shoving his notebook back into his backpack. "As such, we need to use the back door."

"Sounds good, Miss Elena." Astamon answered and pulled Alice towards the middle of the group. "I'll leave the dragging of the body to you ruffians."

"Sounds fair." Elena added and grabbed hold of Alice, pulling her towards the door. "Also, the whatever you guys are going to have to stay here."

Everyone's digimon focused their gazes upon her.

"Whatever you guys are?" Tsukaimon shouted. "That's not our name at all!"

"Yeah!" Carinamon added as she totally ignored her master. "Were digimon, stupid!"

Elena didn't even answer and decided to just open the door, pulling herself and Alice inside. The rest of the group watched on, unsure of how to react to this.

"I don't care if were called 'Pokemon' or 'Appmon', that was straight up rude." Aegiochusmon whispered, possibly getting ready to sent a spell out. "As such, I believe it is best to think about our act-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Carinamon and Tsukaimon 'apologized'. Even if it would be quite meaningless. Since you know, the offended person isn't there to even hear it! But I digress.

"Let's go." Aaron whispered and headed towards the door. Polly and Joey followed right behind, entering the insane halls of Drogaciji Academy...

.

Next Time: Welcome to Drogaciji Academy. Please enjoy your stay.


	8. Lost in Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drogaciji Academy is weird.

They opened their eyes.

Gone was the lush and vibrant exterior of the entrance. In it's place, was a rectangular room that looked elongated at one end. The light of the room hung darkly in mid-air, ignoring all rules of gravity and common sense. Above them, a couple chairs and a couch sat like everything was perfectly normal in this place. The only thing that looked normal, appeared to be a bulletin board. Which, was covered in a variety of papers displaying alien languages.

After getting adjusted to the sudden change of scenery, the group did a quick headcount. With the added member, the still unnamed group now numbered five. However, they were only able to account for three of the infused chosen.

The first was an older man, possibly in his 30's. In actuality, he had been there since the "beginning" of this entire mess, if you could call even call it that. As such, investigating this place was his top priority. Even if it probably wouldn't work out that way.

The second was a young scientist, interested in what truly inhabited the dark. In a way, stuff like this just seemed normal to him.

And the third was a brawler, totally confused by their current situation. Which was odd, considering who her master was. The group made a quick glance down at themselves, finding two of the three in their other forms.

**Shadow Flare!**

Joey fired the projectile out, watching it rebound towards them. They then ducked, only for the fireball to explode.

After making sure no one had , the trio headed through the doorway and found themselves in a hallway. Two marble walls stood close, complimented by some sort of silver floor.

"Never mind." The hybrid added, heading towards the door. The rest of the group reluctantly followed behind, finding themselves surrounded by two marble walls and some sort of silver floor. Like the room they had just left, the grasp of darkness had lightly taken hold.

_Welcome..._

The trio turned around, finding no other humans or digimon in the previous room. Heck, they were pretty certain it was much darker in the prior room now than before.

"Okay then." Aaron whispered, as they continued on down the hall. Occasionally, they would make a quick glance behind them, only to still found nothing.

Eventually, the hallway opened up, revealing a large rectangular room lined with doors.

As per the course of this place, this room had quite sturdy cardboard walls with a plain tile floor. In a way, this was probably better than the gray carpet and felt-covered walls found in most schools in the United States. Each door appeared to be different. Some were big, while others were small. A couple of the entrances looked quite plain, with couple just seeming too elaborate for this place.

Their gazes focused on a bright light at the far end of the tunnel, the only source of illumination they had found in a while. The trio made their way over, finding a slightly ajar door and pushed it open.

Inside, the room was just four cream-colored walls and a hardwood floor. A bed sat in the far right corner, covered in all sorts of stuffed animals. Of the many plushies that sat upon the sheets, one of them stood out. It appeared to a be a young girl, similar to a chibi. It was dressed quite casually, just a red tank top with the drogaciji symbol along with a matching skirt and sandals. A pair of purplish black bat wings had sprouted from it's back, complimenting it's pale yellow eyes and two small fangs hanging out of her mouth that went with her short red hair. In it's hands was a yumi, even if it seemed psychically impossible for such thing to wield it.

Polly picked the toy up, giving it a quick examination. Other than the stuff mentioned above, a small tag labelled "Lily" was stitched into the back of the plush. While Elena did seem like that sort of person to collect these sorts of things, something about this one seemed a bit off. She placed it back down on the pillow, heading towards the door and headed out. Joey and Aaron followed right behind, not at all noticing the plush suddenly disappearing.

Outside, Chinese paper lanterns now hung by the doors of the hallway. Along with that, a soft rumbling now penetrated the silence.

_Me sheriff now._

The rumbling grew louder as the light from the lanterns disappeared. Two headlights then basked their light upon them as the faint smell of gunpowder and gasoline filled the area.

**Watery Grave Punch!**

Polly flung her left fist backwards, hitting something behind them. As she did that, Aaron made a quick glance behind them. In the time they had spent in Elena's room, a large armored vehicle had managed to squeeze it's way into the hallway.

".." Joey added, only for the the trio to break into a run. After all, getting killed in a hit-and-run just didn't seem like a good way to go out.

The rest of the hallway quickly turned into a blur of motion and sound. As they continued down along their merry way, the two walls began to close in and pushed everyone closer together. For our trio of heroes, that wasn't much of a problem.

_Me get you later!_

They then slowed to a stop, taking in their new surroundings. Instead of the cardboard and white tile of the hallway, amethyst walls and an oak parquet floor had been decided on for that area. A variety of tables and chairs were scattered about, with a variety of games to boot.

'Hopefully you guys haven't worn yourselves out already.'

"Who's there?" Aaron inquired, only for laughter to fill the room as night's grip upon the room increased tenfold. They waited for a couple of minutes, only to get no response. The man then pulled a vial of purple liquid out and threw it into the air, watching the vial explode. All that was left, was nothing.

"Me."

The trio turned around, finding a solitary figure standing at the entrance. They were dressed in a burgundy cloak, with a simple white mask displaying a black smiley face.

**Despair Beam!**

A purple beam shot out of their opponent's hands, heading right towards the trio.

**Shadow Blaze!**

A black fireball met the beam, only for the despair beam to just explode into blank white squares at their feet. Aaron picked one of the pieces up, giving it a quick glance. It looked like one of those Polaroid pictures. You know, the kind you had to shake in order for the photo to develop. Aaron then shook it for a couple of seconds, only for no photo to form. He moved onto the next one, with the same result. One after another, he repeated this action to no avail. In it a way, it was beginning to come clear to him.

"Enough of this." he whispered, walking over to their opponent and ripped their mask off. Under the facade, Elena's face 'shined' through. Even then, it looked like more monstrous than human.

The hybrid stared at them with a look of both anger and sadness, unable to answer them. She then walked to the other side of the room, heading down the next hallway. Before they could follow, a second figure dressed in the same cloak and mask as Elena appeared before them. Strangely, this goon was armed with a rocket launcher.

_You don't get it, do you?_

The figure's rocket launcher then glowed, only for a line of rockets to shoot out.

**Watery Grave Punch!**

Polly slammed her fist into the nearest projectile, watching it spin out of control and into a second missile. What followed, was a chain reaction that managed to destroy the explosives safely.

_Go ahead and make a snappy comeback. We both know the truth._

Their opponent then stepped aside, mumbling something about time manipulation and bird sex. The three merely ignored him, heading into the next hallway...

* * *

Notes:

A yumi is a Japanese bow, usually about 5-6 feet in height. Unlike most bows, one doesn't have to draw the bowstring all the way back.

The plush holding said yumi, Lily, is actually based on an unused character of the same name from one of my many unfinished/unpublished stories.

.

Next Time: Let's head deeper, why don't we?


	9. Red Rose Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only by facing oneself can you become stronger.

The trio continued their way down the hallway, with everything seeming quite normal at the moment.

Unlike the previous room they had just left, blood red walls and a poop brown floor were all they got. Not a single light could be found within this area, making it a tiny bit harder to traverse the area. Occasionally, a brief chill came over them. Yet every time they checked, they found themselves to be the only ones in the hallway.

"Who's there?" Polly whispered, taking a deep breath.

Polly was forced against the wall, a transparent hand grabbing hold of her neck.

The fighter looked down at her hand, finding it not there at all. The rest of her body quickly followed suit as she faded away.

"Okay then." Aaron remarked, only for the hallway behind them to suddenly disappear in a flash of thick grey smoke.

They continued on for what seemed like an eternity, coming upon a wall. Not that there was anything special about it, since said wall looked like all the other walls in the hallway. After staring at the damn thing for a couple of minutes, Aaron finally decided to place a hand against it, only for it to make no contact. He then pulled his hand back and walked through.

At first, it looked like he was going to make it. With each step, he fell a little bit farther into the void below. Eventually, he fallen so far that Joey was unable to make him out within the black darkness of the void.

He took a deep breath, sitting himself down. As much as he didn't want to accept the possible fate these people had planned to give him, it was best to wait for the moment. The cold feeling then returned to him, only for a sudden force to push through the wall and hit him...

.

Elena opened her eyes.

Currently, she found herself chained to a post, bathed in the light of the moon. The corsair was currently in her digimon form, yet something felt off about it. The past couple hours were a hazy blur up to this point, unable to put any of it into the cohesive piece. She made a quick glance down at the ground, finding a single undeveloped Polaroid at her feet. She made a quick glance at it, the events coming back to her.

"What have I done?" Elena thought, taking a deep breath as her gaze focused on the pole opposite to her. Chained to that pole, was the plush from the previous chapter. She had seen the toy only a couple of times yet, it seemed to want something of her.

**Memory Blast!**

The beam shot out, only for nothing to happen. She then balled herself up, which was quite harder than one expected it to be. Her next escape attempt involved slamming her large body into the chains, only to get the same result.

"Concentrate, Elena, concentrate."

The hybrid took a few more deep breaths and did the closest thing to stretching a large rubber bird thing could manage. After a couple of repetitions of this, Elena managed to switch back to her human form. She then went for her kris, managing to grab hold of both blades.

**Gale Strike!**

Elena threw both daggers above her, watching as both blades twirled through the air and slam into the chains. The bindings promptly shattered, releasing their grip upon her.

"I did it." she thought, quickly dusting herself off and headed over to the opposite pillar. Compared to the "prison" she had just broken out of, this pillar had twice as many chains upon it.

"Good, you're awake." A voice announced, breaking Elena's moment of triumph. _  
_

Elena looked all around, eventually settling on the plushie chained in front of her.

"Uh... Hello?" she whispered, cautious of her fellow prisoner. The plush's face then moved, possibly in a small attempt at acknowledging the girl.

"Free me and I shall fix it." the voice added, the thing just about ready to do it without help from Elena.

The two stared blankly at each other, possibly attempting to send some sort of mystical message between the two.

**Gale Strike!**

The corsair daggers charged with bluish green energy, easily slicing through the bindings.

The plush jumped down to the ground, holding her free hand open. Elena only stared at her, unsure what to do next. She knew what the person wanted but, could she really trust her? While this thing did know the truth, she couldn't be too sure whether or not it would double cross her.

"You helped me, so I'll help you." After saying that, the plush then jumped into the air and whispered something into her friend's ear. The corsair then pulled a plain pocketwatch out, watching as the cloth and stuffing creature carefully fixed it. While the device looked mostly the same, it still didn't actually tell time yet.

"Thanks." Elena whispered, heading towards the right side of the room. Her friend followed right behind, as if this was the mother duckling she had chose to raise her. "Do you have to follow me?"

"Yes, for that is our agreement to me." the plush answered and clapped, making a yumi appear in her hands. Elena only stared her, possibly racking her mind for that conversation. "In due time, you'll remember."

Elena only sighed. For as much as she wanted to question her new-found partner, that would have to wait.

"At the very least, you can tell me your name."

"Lily." the plush whispered, sliding her hand against the wall. Elena followed suit, searching intently for some sort of hidden secret. Eventually, both sets of hands grasped onto a metallic object, pulling it open. On the other side, they found themselves in a quite plain room. Four white walls engulfed, which sort of went with a boring grey carpet. As with all the other rooms, the darkness had already taken hold. But, the dark now seemed softened by the coming dawn. As such, light shadows had formed off of something further down. Just the sheer chance that the shadows were their friends was merely enough to get Elena to break into a run. Lily followed suit, making sure she had an arrow ready to fly.

As they got closer, the shadows became much clearer. It was three more masked figures. While they hadn't noticed either Elena or Lily, they were currently dragging the bodies of her teammates

**Gale Strike!**

The corsair then grabbed Lily off the ground and threw her into the air. She then slammed both of her daggers into her partner, watching the mini succubus fly through the air and fire off a barrage of arrows upon their possible opponents.

As Lily did that, Elena charged towards the group and unleashed a flurry of stabs and slashes upon the three opponents.

"This matter is none of your business!" Goon #1 announced, shooting a stream of bubbles into their direction. As terrifying as that sounded, the attack was as even less effective than the move 'splash' from Pokemon.

After a couple rounds of arrows and stab wounds, their first opponent retreated. The two then turned their attention to goons #2 and 3. While possibly tougher than their previous opponent, it probably wouldn't matter at the moment. As long as they tried their hardest, nothing could strike them down.

"Uh.. aren't you going to attack us?" one of the goons remarked, not at all realizing what they had just said.

**Full Auto Fire!**

Before either Elena or Lily could attack, a stream of bullets slammed into the two figures and forced them to retreat. In the process of that, the opposing duo dropped the two other bodies.

"Uh thanks?" Lily whispered.

"So much for investigating."

"Mom, it's Saturday."

Joey didn't say anything, checking his notes. The group then turned their attention to the wall, which now had a large open hole in the wall. On the other side of said wall, stood Alice...

.

Next Time: Now, let's have a tea party!


	10. A Very WTF Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the tin, pretty much.

For as glad as the group was to see their teammate, something felt off about her.

"Alice, are you alright?" Joey whispered, only for a bullet to slightly graze his left cheek. A slight flesh wound that could be easily fixed once they got outside and found their digimon.

"Who the heck are you people?" 'Alice' asked, her body shaking quite rapidly. Even her guns weren't immune to it, seeming to shake even more than the rest of her body.

"Your friends." Elena answered as she pulled both of her daggers back out. "Please stop this at once."

Alice silently walked over to Elena and slapped her. She then cleared her throat, possibly ready to kill all of them.

"My name is Suiko Tanaka," the girl explained as she took a few steps back. "I don't know who you people even are or what the heck you want with me, but please just leave me alone!"

The group then stood there and waited for a couple of minutes. After, an ebony-furred feline entered the room. Strangely, it seemed to have some clue what was going on, judging by the look it gave Elena and Lily. For the rest of them, it gave them a quick glance of pity and returned it's focus back to Elena and Lily.

"Liora!"

Elena then hugged the cat, only for it to walk over to Alice and paw at her.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the cat shouted, just about ready to claw the shooter apart. "Is this how you plan to repay me?"

'Suiko' rolled her eyes, unsure of whether to answer the talking cat.

"Then tell me what's going on then!" she announced, the shaking now much less noticeable. "Or I'll shoot all of you!"

**Gale Strike!**

Elena pulled both of her kris out and charged towards Suiko, knocking the gambler's guns to the ground. After, Liora scooped them up and placed them on the table. The cat then pointed her attention at them, quite furious with most of them for some unknown reason. It probably had something to do with their romp through the halls from a few minutes ago.

"Care to explain all the destruction you just caused?" Liora shouted, slamming her paw against the ground. "I realize most of you our guests to this place and all, but this sort of behavior is truly unwarranted in every extent of the word!"

Elena's group only stood there, waiting for the creature to continue. When it didn't, they all took a deep breath and slightly relaxed themselves.

"Sorry about that, teach." Elena answered, taking a deep breath. "I should have probably sent a much clearer message to you guys."

Liora then sighed, pawing lightly at the corsair's arm.

"It's alright, child. You were just doing what you believed was right at the time."

The two then turned their gazes towards Alice, who had now fallen to the ground. A few seconds later, the gambler got back up and seemed totally unfazed by what had just happened. Heck, she seemed slightly happier then before.

"Sorry about that." she started, only to dust herself off. "Not entirely sure what got into me."

"Care to explain?" Aaron inquired, only to receive no answer from the gambler. For now, it was probably better that way.

Everyone stared at her for a few seconds, taking a deep breath afterwards. At the very least, they got that problem solved. After thanking the nice cat for fixing their friend, they headed back into the halls of this madhouse. All that was left to do, was find the exit and leave this place.

"Uh, guys..." Elena remarked and came to a stop. Gone was the series of hallways they had just left, having been replaced with a labyrinth of mostly left turns.

"Did you really expect me to let you people out that easily?!"

"Yes." the group announced in unison and pulled their respective weapons out. While they hadn't really planned to take one more opponent on, it would work as good practice for future fights.

"Well too bad!"

A large fin then swept across the area, knocking everyone to the ground.

"So were facing a fish then?" Joey added, shooting out a shadow flare towards their possible opponent. A few seconds later, goldfish crackers rained down upon them. "What the fuck?"

The group looked among each other, entirely unsure what had just transpired. Not even the drogaciji student herself had an explanation for it. Once they had finished collecting their snack, the maze faded away and a normal hallway replaced it. At the very least, they probably wouldn't have to deal with that nuisance anytime soon. They then headed off, finally getting through a room without anything out of the ordinary happening to them. Eventually, the doors came into view.

"Finally."

"Took us long enough."

"Thank god!"

"Oh well. I'll investigate some other time in the future."

"I guess all good things must to come to an end."

After saying that, their gazes focused on the western wall. There, someone had painted a mural of a large cat beast being taken on by four people armed with weapons. While no victor was shown, it looked to be an even match by digitalverse standards. Outside of that multiverse, there was no chance in hell of the heroes even succeeding.

"I feel sorry for them." Alice announced as she gazed intently at the wall. "Those people probably haven't realized how screwed they actually are."

The rest of the group stared at her, possibly having a much different opinion than the gambler did.

"Personally, I think they'll succeed." Elena responded and pushed the invisible barrier open.

Outside, everything looked the same. As such they made their way back on the bus without even saying a word to each other or their digimon. There, they sat themselves down on the bus for the long journey ahead.

And so we focus on Joey, who still has one thing left to do.

"Do you still have it?" Joey inquired.

"Yep." Tsukaimon answered, regurgitating up a small journal that his human had stuffed in a small plastic bag. The chosen the pulled it out, proceed to pull it open and read the first page.

.

Dear Diary,

Today, my campaign to conquer this world begins. Before me, is a big large world that will soon be mine. and yet, I seem to have deja vu...

* * *

Next Time: Information on the chapter is unknown. Those that do want to know can go ask Alice.


	11. Go Ask Alice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this taking so long, but here it is.

The ride back to the digital world wasn't anything that interesting. Mostly due to the scenery consisting of puke tripping out on LSD.

For Alice, it was one of the few reassurances of her failure. Every time she saw this puke, it signaled the loosening of her grip of control. Soon, they would know the truth about her and she wouldn't be able to hide. Once more, the gambler would be all alone, whether she wanted too or not.

*Do you have to be so moody about all of this?* Suiko thought as she stared through 'Alice's' eyes. While she already knew what Alice was going to say, it still felt nice to have her guess be right. That was the hardest part about sharing a body. Even within peace and quiet, there was no privacy. It probably didn't help that she could quite explain why or how she was in this body, not that Alice seemed that much of a hurry to figure that one out.

Before Alice could answer though, bright light invaded her vision as the world began to spin around.

When the light and dizziness finally faded away, the gambler no longer found herself in the bus. Instead, she found herself standing in a city underneath a crimson sky. Once mighty skyscrapers were now just towering pillars of twisted metal and glass. What remained of the ground was mostly ashes and rubble. The only thing of real interest appeared to be a figure out in the distance.

"Hello?" Alice shouted and got no response. "If there is anyone out there, just give me a sign!"

The person then waved their hand, feeling Alice with some hope. Silence now filled her head now, with no sign of Suiko within. Normally, this would be a massive relief. But here, something felt off about it. She wasn't sure what it was or why that may be, but it seemed to gnaw at her.

So, she did the natural thing for this sort of situation. Run towards the person waving at you. Yet no matter how far she seemed to travel in connection to the other person, it seemed to never change at all. It was probably nothing more than a mirage at best. Not that was it was hot enough for such a phenomenon to occur. Nonetheless, she took a deep breath and looked down at herself.

Gone was the overdone 'pristine' dress and body of Alice Zwingli, having been replaced by some large hideous white cat creature.

"How is this even possible?" Alice shouted and began to look all around. For being such a large four-legged creature, this was a lot easier than one would think it would be. It was still the same desolate city as before, with the only difference being everything seeming slightly smaller in proportion to the feline. "Better yet, why am I a massive cat?"

Alice's question got no answer, instead just barely making out a bullet heading right towards her head. If she had her gun, maybe she would have fired back. But alas, that wasn't the case.

She closed her eyes, feeling the bright light and dizziness once more. When it finally faded away, the gambler found herself back on the bus, sitting in her seat.

*There you are!* Suiko announced as Alice took a deep breath, attempting to ignore the voice. "I thought I had lost you!"

"What do you mean?" the gambler thought and gazed around the interior of the bus. Other than the fact they had now landed back in the desert, there wasn't really anything that different from before. "What are you even talking about?"

Suiko didn't answer, instead deciding to just let the gambler explain what had happened to her.

Once she was done recounting her story, Alice made a quick glance down at herself. Gone was the large body of that white feline, with her usual appearance having returned to her. Along with that, a white paper bag now sitting in her lap. While she wasn't quite sure who had left it here, the person in question was nice enough to leave her a note.

_Alice,_

_Joey and I went to grab our bags and stuff. Polly and Aaron along with the digimon are setting up camp not that far from here. Hopefully, you'll join us there._

_-Elena_

The gambler only sighed and unwrapped the burger, taking a huge bite out of it. While it wasn't anything that exceptional, it would be enough to stave off hunger until the next proper meal.

"That was awfully nice of her." Alice thought as she stared off into space. "May I should spare her... nah."

*Are you seriously still focused on that?* Suiko inquired as she watched the gambler eat. Maybe one day, she would be able to do the same. But for now, she would have to deal with only being able to just look at the delicacies. *You realize there's a whole lot of other ways we could solve this."

Alice didn't answer, instead finishing up her lunch. Once that was done, she tossed the trash into the bag and got up. While her plan was a pipe-dream for the moment, something to keep in the back of her mind for the time being. But for now, there were much more pressing matters to be dealt with. More specifically, getting to this camp her 'friends' had decided to set up. If nothing else, she could just use it as a time to reflect and possibly find the origin of that girl...

.

She was 12 now, wide-eyed and naive. Currently, she found herself in a room. It wasn't anything that remarkable, just a bare with just enough room for a table and some folding chairs. But, it would work perfectly for the purposes of the people here. Normally, Suiko wouldn't have came, but she didn't have anything better to do at the day. For the occasion, she was dressed in a white sailor fuku with a blue skirt. Everyone else was dressed far more casually, making her the odd one out.

"Anyone up for a game of poker?" someone had suggested, with most of the group agreeing as well.

Reluctantly, she sat herself down at the table. The schoolgirl sat right in the middle, focusing her gaze on the only thing that mattered at the moment. The cards in front of her. In that one moment, everything seemed to clicked, and 'Alice' was born.

A year quickly flew by, with the gambler casually juggling school, personal and her gambling. No more did the unimportant schoolgirl known as Suiko Tanaka exist, having become the suave beauty known as Alice Zwingli. She was currently in a underground tournament, with just her and the opponent at the final table. It had all came down to this one hand. The dealer dealt the cards, not at all interacting with either of them. Such a formality could make or break this game. It wasn't something you would leave up to chance. She made a quick glance at her cards, the king and queen of diamonds. Afterwards she turned her attention to the person who dealt it. They were both the angel and the demon of this game, capable of changing the game with a single move.

"Raise." Alice whispered and threw some chips down, watching them go all-in. What followed was the flop, with neither player gaining the edge upon a trio of junk. Next came the turn, which was a similar story as the flop. It would all come down to the final card, the river. Alice took a deep breath and kept her gaze upon the dealer.

The river was the king of spades. While not anything to be amazed by, it was all the gambler needed to secure her victory.

"Good game." the opponent whispered and walked away, seeming quite happy about all of this for some reason. But she pushed that to the back of her mind and went to claim her prizes. More specifically, a portion of the prize money and a large egg.

Once that was all said and done, Alice made her way out.

"Sure it was." the gambler whispered as she headed back to her hotel room. "Truly hollow."

Alice made a quick glance behind her, just catching a glance of a cat. She pushed that too the back of her mind, reaching her room without any more incidents. Once inside, Alice placed the egg on the bed and sat down beside it. For now she just wanted to relax, even if it probably would've been better to answer all the text messages from her parents. But that could wait for later. For now though, her focus was on the egg. How this was a prize at a tournament was beyond her. It was almost as if this was all some elaborate set-up to trap her. But why, exactly? For the moment, it was just another thing to keep in the back of her head. She then leaned back on the egg, only to hear a loud 'crack'. The gambler turned around, finding a small koala-esque creature sitting in front of her.

"I'm hungry!" the creature announced and Alice did a double take, taking another deep breath.

Once more, time rushed forward. This one having occurred just a couple weeks ago. Alice now stood within a hospital room, looking over the bodies of her parents. The one on her left, a blonde haired woman dressed in a hospital gown. The only defining feature for her appeared to be a silver necklace with a shield shaped pendant. Said pendant consisted of a sword and pencil, locked in combat. Her father was a black haired man, dressed in a similar fashion to his wife, necklace and all. As she stared down at them, a feeling of both justice and regret came over her.

"I'll find who did this to you." the gambler whispered and took a deep breath, quickly making her exit. For now, she would just have to move on and uphold that promise. Whether or not she was capable of doing just that was another question.

With that, her memories melded back into the sands of the desert.

.

"Here we are." Alice whispered. "Truce for now?"

The camp wasn't that impressive, consisting of a bunch of tents. And yet, it would work for the group.

*Truce for now.* Suiko answered as Elena ran up to them.

"There you are!" the gale corsair greeted and wrapped her arms around Alice. "I was starting to think I would have to go and fetch you."

"Yeah thanks."

While unable to find what she was looking for, the gambler settled in for the night. For now, she would just have to bide her time and wait...

* * *

Notes:

This one was a long time coming. Even then, I am actually quite happy with how this turned out.

.

Next Time: Some things never do change...


	12. Target

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the line is drawn.

Adrian Gostelow took a deep breath.

For this special occasion, he had decided upon a plain black suit with matching pants that seemed to compliment his blue eyes and short black hair. Currently, he was standing before the entrance to a large grey building. Strangely, a large colorful sign sat on its roof, reading 'Jester Entertainment'.

He took a deep breath and sighed, returning his attention to the plain set of doors that would take him inside. Adrian then walked over, carefully pushing the doors open and headed through.

Judging by the interior, it would appear there had been some sort of mutiny within the workers. Judging by the blue and orange lava lamp-style floor and an entire wall dedicated to an aquarium. Not even the chairs escaped this mad decorator's wrath, having been replaced with a weird hybrid between a bean bag and a bar stool. How that even worked is beyond me. It just does.

Nonetheless, Adrian made his way over to the reception desk, where a teenage girl dressed in a maid outfit stood. The only interesting thing about her appeared to be her auburn hair and reddish orange eyes.

"My, you're a sight for sore eyes." the girl remarked, only for Adrian to roll his eyes. "And yet you, the SHSL inventor lives on. Miss Arcana is waiting for you."

"Whatever, Cora." Adrian answered, cracking a sly smile. "So, I'm guessing I don't need to tell you why I have come."

The maid did not answer, instead mumbling something about family and stuff.

"Hmm..." Cora whispered as she watched the guest head through a nearby door. "But don't blame me if you don't get what you want."

For Adrian though, a 'hallway' was what awaited him. And by that, I mean it looked like a third grader had drawn it in the dark. Possibly with a white crayon to boot. Nonetheless, the inventor headed on and decided to just hum some sort song. It was probably from something along the lines of '1000% Sparkling' or 'Miracle Go'. You know, a bubbling song from a magical girl anime.

"Does it really matter?" the scientist whispered as he took a deep breath. For the million reasons he had to not head through the next door, there was one good enough reason to do it. If he didn't, it would be sign that the opponent had won.

He reached out towards the door, pulling it open.

Inside, Adrian found in a large empty room. It was decorated with all the traditional fixings of an office, minus one important thing. There was no desk, just a swivel chair and a normal chair. Of course, a familiar third-person speaking jester sat in the swivel chair.

"Adrian took too long." Jestery remarked as she spun around in her chair. "What does Adrian want now?"

Adrian shook the piece of plastic, causing it to reform into a longsword. The only big difference being its lack of a hand guard and the blade slightly curving at the end.

"You know why I am here." Adrian answered as he pointed the sword towards his possible opponent.

"Go on ahead, blame Jestery. Better yet, go and blame sweet mommy kitty Victoria for this." Jestery remarked and Adrian rolled his eyes. "It won't change the truth of this matter."

.

Cycle 1, Digital World

It had been a wonderful day in the Order's main base.

Scientists were hard at work, coming with all sorts of breakthroughs to possibly bring humanity beyond what they currently were at the moment.

Back then, Adrian had been stationed in 'mission control' as part of the bigger group. The whole organization was the result of a joint partnership between three of Japan's most prestigious academies. The first, Mahora Academy, had been known for questionable hiring practices. And by that, I mean being totally willing to just allowing a ten year old child to be part of their facility staff. Somehow, this was enough to awaken the latent powers of his class and cancel out the variety of other questionable stuff they had decided to do.

The second, Hope's Peak, garnered a reputation of turning above average high schoolers into the greatest minds of many respective fields. Never mind their gradually declining funds and total willingness to change average people into 'hope-filled' edgelords. Because bringing hope to all requires turning everyone into Mary Sues and Gary Stus for some reason.

The third, Drogaciji Academy, was the odd ones out. They didn't really have a particular focus for their students. Instead choosing to pick those that were unique or didn't quite fit within the general perception of the public. The catch though, was that they 'held onto' these people for an extended period of time. And by that, I mean forever. Rarely does one truly graduate from there. Those that have claimed to have either had some sort of deal worked out or were straight-up liars. Or both. You never could tell with these sorts of people.

At that very moment, the scientist had been interacting with one Verena Tanaka as his wife Lauren watched on.

"Here's your information, Mr Gostelow." the woman explained and held a flash drive out. Adrian quickly snatched the object, ignoring the obvious questions such where she got it or or where exactly she had been keeping it within her cocktail dress. "I hope you put it to good use."

"I will." Adrian whispered and turned his attention back to his wife. "Ready to do this?"

Lauren nodded, quickly changing from a t-shirt and jeans to a labcoat in a matter of seconds. But just as he was about the insert the device in, a 'potted cactus' pricked him.

"What, Prickle?" Adrian shouted only for the cactus to shake its 'head'.

"We have a problem." Prickle answered and took a hop back.

"As in what? Is this a 'We're out of cookies' problem or is this a 'holy shit, things are going horribly wrong' problem?"

"The second one." the cactus added and took the equivalent of a deep breath.

"Then spill it out." Lauren added as she and Verena walked over. Prickle then opened his mouth, only for a teenage boy and girl to walk up. The boy was dressed primarily in a silver jumpsuit, which somehow went quite well with his matching hair and eyes. The girl on the other hand, was dressed in a mix of a red vest with a white t-shirt and plaid skirt. A black tie hung around her neck, seeming to contrast quite greatly with her lime green hair and matching emotionless eyes.

"Yes, spill it out." the emotionless girl whispered and stared down towards the potted cactus.

Prickle then took a deep breath, making sure he had enough room to not stick a needle into someone.

"The subjects have escaped." Prickle finally answered. "I'm not quite sure who exactly allowed them out, but they're out."

The various heads of the order looked among each other with a mix of anger and confusion. In a way, this was something they brought upon themselves. And now, it would be their fellow researchers that would be paying that price.

But in that moment, none of them really cared. For they had a job to do...

.

"Good times, weren't they?" Jestery taunted, grinning at Adrian. "Adrian, up for chess?"

Adrian didn't answer, instead decide to just watch as the jester pulled the board and pieces out from somewhere. She then placed it down on the table, placing the black side at her end. Sadly, the SHSL Inventor was not in the mood for such a game, instead choosing to slam into longsword towards his gracious host.

"Number #6, Siren Valida or the Practical Mermaid as it's sometimes known." Jestery taunted and conjured a photo of Polly along with one of zippo lighters. She then gave the device a slight flick, watching a small flame form. "You tempted fate once, do you really think you can make lightning strike twice?"

"So what? We were able to save her!" Adrian shouted. "Personally, he should be thanking us. If it weren't for us, she would just be flesh and blood!"

Jestery only laughed, choosing to move the picture even closer to the lighter.

"Oopsy!"

In a matter of seconds, the photo was now just ashes on the desk. Strangely though, the picture reformed into some kind of playing card made up of a bunch of other cards.

"You've already made your decision, haven't you?" Jestery whispered and took a deep breath. She then slammed her hands together, conjuring up a pair of butterfly blades. Unlike the ones usually used by her mother, Jestery's had an ebony handle with a silver blade. "And to think, I was willing to give her to you. I guess I'll just go with my other option then."

"Do you really think that scares me?" Adrian answered and readied his blade for one more strike.

"For so long, we have been your toys, trapped in a never-ending loop of life and death." Jestery screamed, kicking Adrian out of his chair and onto the ground. "Soon, all that will change. No more will we stand by and let you people have your way, for the wheel of fortune is now spinning in our direction!

**Jestery Trick!**

The hybrid threw both of her blades up into the air, causing it to reform into a butterfly-like shape. The animated creature then slammed itself down, impaling itself into Adrian. Afterwards, the blade returned to Jestery, who watched as the inventor teleported away.

"I have done it." she thought and clapped her hands together, watching her weapons dissipate into air once more...

* * *

Next Time: We return to Elena's group, with the spotlight on Joey...


	13. Don't Fall Asleep

Night had now fallen upon the camp.

With it, bringing forth the usual darkened sky and endless fields of twinkling stars. It was a time of calmness and serenity, a chance to reflect upon events of the previous days.

But for Joey, it meant something else entirely. While everyone else was in their tents and sleeping in their beds, the scientist was tending to the fire and jotting down his notes. Tsukaimon laid beside him, cradling a small teacup in his 'hooves'.

"Let's see." he thought and stared down at his notes.

_...The power of the shadows is equally proportionate to the powers of the divine. Just as much as bright light cast forth from the divine element shines, there will be some trace of shadow within. and when the gloomy darkness of the shadows are cast down somewhere or upon someone, some form of divine light can still be found. Neither divine or shadow are inherently good or evil. They are neutral elements, capable of existing alongside the other infusion elements in a fragile harmony..._

While this kind of thing sort of made sense, it felt like a mix of wisdom and complete gibberish. Though, that notion could probably be extended to a lot of this multiverse. Not that Joey really cared about that at the moment, choosing instead to stare off towards the northwest. It was here where the never-ending sands of the desert met the dark and twisted woods of the forest. Those two places couldn't be nothing more unlike each other. Yet, something about them seemed to whisper otherwise.

"Ready for bed?" Tsukaimon whispered, only for Joey's gaze to fixate upon said divide. A mist-like figure stood there, seemingly staring back towards them. "What's wrong? Someone out there who wants to take us down?"

"I'm not sure." the scientist answered and stood up, pulling his staff out in the process. "They don't seem hostile, but you can never know."

One could never be too sure in a place like this. In a way it reminded him of that duo of episodes related to Datamon and his capture of Sora. At the time, nobody had really expected that. What had followed was a chase through a maze, only for the heroes to find themselves attacked by an army of Sora clones. After a strategic retreat, the remaining chosen regrouped and freed Sora. Afterwards, they used the usual strategy. Act like they were all tanks, even when a better solution existed. Alas, they were all one intelligence point from figuring that out.

For Joey, it fell into the category of lesser-liked episodes. While there really anything particularly wrong on the episodes part, he just didn't really care for it. That was beyond the point. For now, he would have to keep his guard up and stand vigilant. Who know what could possibly sneak up and attempt to kill them in their sleep.

But who was he kidding? Aegiochusmon and/or Astamon were far better options as guards. Outside of his notes, there really was only one reason that he was still awake. What that reason was exactly, was a secret to everyone.

"What do we have here?"

The scientist turned around, just barely making out a blur of blackish grey energy not that far from the two of them. Every bit of warmth brought in by the fire seemed to instantly melt away with this unknown presence.

"Huh?" he whispered and pulled the instrument towards himself, mumbling an unknown and possibly eldritch phrase under his breath.

**Shadow Pact.**

As much as he wanted to shout it at the top of his lungs, that just seemed like a rude thing to do those attempting to slumber. He doubted any of the people currently slumbering would enjoy having to hear someone shout.

For a brief second, pain surged through his body. It was quickly replaced by strength borrowed from an unknown source, where exactly was unknown. There were probably much better things to be focusing on. Things such as Tsukaimon's lack of tea, his notes or even the mysterious voice. Yet, this what the author wanted to know for some reason. Even if he already knew the answer to said question.

"Show yourself, you coward!" Tsukaimon shouted as he flung his teacup onto the sand. Joey only gave him a cautious glance, which got followed up by a creepy laugh that seemed to chill the air even more.

"Fine then."

With that, a thin grey mist engulfed the area, leaving just enough visibility behind for one to just make out a generic cloud of something. It was probably something cliche like darkness or negative. Heck, it could be both for all intents and purposes.

"Please shut up."

Of course, that request fell upon deaf ears as Joey focused his gaze upon the cloud.

"I'm Joey Spence." the scientist greeted, feeling quite odd to say his last name. "And that's Tsukaimon."

The purple pig nodded in agreement, even if he was ready to growl at the thing.

"Despair, headmaster of the wonderful academy off in the forest." the other end of the conversation whispered and cracked the cloud equivalent of a 'smile'. "You have so much potential, a shame I can't ta- I mean enroll."

Joey gave the cloud a confused look, unsure of how to interpret this. While it was a nice compliment, something about this person seemed very off. Sort of like Datamon, in some respects.

"What are you even talking about?" the cloud drifted towards him, now intent on taking him in. Whether or not it would though, was up for debate.

**Joey infusion digivolve too... ShadowAngemon.**

Gone was the teenage boy, getting replaced with a grey ghost-like figure resembling that of the great angelic digimon.

**Shadow Blaze.**

The scientist swung his staff out in front of him, flinging a black fireball towards the target. Yet, they only stood there and just took the blow for some reason. Heck, it probably made them even bigger than before. It also made using his other attack upon them a foolish endeavor.

"For a group affiliated with one of my 'great comrades', you leave a lot to be desired." Despair announced, only take on a more humanoid shape as it approached. "Makes one wonder if he lost his touch."

The other side of the conversation gave it another confused glance, still not quite sure how to respond to this information. Not that it could blame the boy for acting in such a way. Yet, that still left a unique opportunity.

"Okay..." Joey whispered, only for his body to suddenly lock up. "What?"

Tsukaimon was a similar story, with the pig even further away from his goal of a cup of tea. Though, this somehow didn't stop either of them from intensely glaring at their foe.

"Sweet Dreams..."

With that, our two heroes quickly felt the tight yet bitter embrace of the dark...

* * *

Notes:

I feel this is much better than the original chapter. While not perfect, it fits far better with what's planned.

The title for this session is in reference to an old digimon adventure fic by the same name on FFnet. If you have the time, its worth checking out.

.

Next Time: Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?


End file.
